My mom and dad participated in the MS Walkabout this last weekend. It was a 50 mile trek over 3 days. They walked 20 miles the first and second day and 10 the last day. My mom, who is living with MS herself, was blessed to be able to walk in the event. I’m so proud of she and my dad for completing such a huge feat. The money they raised will help and support people living with MS, something my mom has also benefitted from in the past.
My sister Hannah flew in for the weekend, and my sister Ariel and her girls and Kev and I and our kids drove up to support my parents and cheer them on. I was glad we were able to make it and be there for them. It really was quite awesome to see this unique group of people band together for such a worthy cause.

Communication is key.
Trying to make solid plans for a not so solid schedule is rather difficult.
Sulfur, 10 million tons of cat poop, cow poop and mothballs, plus a skunk to smell in one weekend is… gross.
Seeing old and good friends again is pretty cool.
Some things are overrated.
Sisters who are my best friends are some of God’s best gifts.
Soap does not taste good.. (SELAH!)
What is appropriate or respectful is apparently relative. (HA!)
Hello Boundaries!
Hibachi grills kick arse. (And are really good for entertaining children while eating a nice dinner out.)
I really like my KING sized bed.
Awkward situations, are…well… awkward.
Long car rides home are a blessing for marriages.
Some things are underrated.
Some things are awful and embarrassing but absolutely necessary.
Sometimes you need to talk about it, but can only get away with being cryptic.

My grandpa passed away Monday, August 10. He was a great man. He did not want a memorial service or funeral, but I felt like I needed to remember him as way of saying goodbye, and for my own closure.

When I was a little girl, I always looked forward to my grandparents visits. We got to see them about once a year when they drove out to Colorado all the way from California. I remember my grandpa investing quite a bit of time with us girls. He was always trying to engage us in some sort of activity. One summer he bought a croquet set and proceeded to teach us all how to play the game. It must have taken a great amount of patience because I remember getting bored with the game myself, and I was the oldest. It was still a lot of fun though, and we had a lot of fun trying to win. If I remember correctly, I think us girls were given many a second chance.

I rarely remember a visit when Grandpa was without his video camera. At first, he had a rather large one that he carried around on his shoulder. Every visit, we would put on a talent show for him. It became quite the tradition and something we prepared for in advance. The earliest talent show showcased my 5 year old dancing skills, and my sister Hannah’s too cute ability to slide down the stairs. Later shows had silly skits, flute playing, gymnastics, singing, dances and even a goofy imitation of a tyrannosaurus rex. We have many many great memories showcased on tape because of my grandpa.

He was always a great encourager of educational pursuits, giving us a keyboard at one time for piano lessons, and always asking how we were doing in school, and what our future plans were. I remember one time I actually told him I wanted to be an accountant. He chuckled at me, because I think he knew full well that I was full of baloney. It was one of those things I thought he’d be impressed with, so that’s what I told him. He was a great scholar himself, always reading up on the latest political thing, and educating himself about important issues.

He and my grandmother were married almost 63 years. They had many things they liked to do together; dancing being at the forefront. They went dancing at least once a week, and also to special ballroom dancing events at places like the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs (one of their favorite places to visit,) and I believe they even took a cruise with a ballroom dancing theme at one time. My grandpa was the perfect gentleman, always knowing just how to treat a lady and all the proper rules of etiquette. Together, he and my grandma were a constant and steady example of a great marriage, something I’ve very much appreciated in my life. They were able to make it to each of their grandchildren’s weddings, and celebrated each pairing with a lot of joy and reverence.

In later years, he and my grandmother made it possible for our whole family to get together for family reunions every 3 to 4 years. They would rent a beach house out in California for a week, and we’d all converge for lots of fun and catching up, and of course the traditional talent show. We always looked forward to these reunions, and they just wont be the same without him.

I will miss my grandpa very much. He was my favorite grandpa, I don’t mind saying. He invested a lot of himself, his time, and encouragement in my life. He was a really great grandpa. And although he was a little shy about telling us he loved us, it showed in the many other areas he gave to all of us throughout his life. I love you, Grandpa. Goodbye.

Sorry I’ve been kind of absent here this week. It’s just been super busy lately. We’ve been participating in another two weeks of swimming lessons (those started last week,) and of course, making end of the summer plans, and fitting lots of little family gatherings and laundry/grocery shopping/housework in the middle of all that. Yesterday, I went to Sam’s Club and they didn’t have my usual brand of laundry detergent (that I always buy there,) and so I had to go across the street to the dreaded W@lm@rt and buy some. Because, readers, our program will come to a screeching halt if the laundry cannot be done. I mean, people just don’t respond well when you greet them in the buff. And also because I don’t like my laundry detergent to smell or have any other weird things in it that will most assuredly make me and my family itch or sneeze. Thank you All Free and Clear! I also discovered yesterday while trying to hurry around and get the grocery shopping done quickly, so my hubby wouldn’t spontaneously combust while watching a house full of crazy kids (Selah was supposed to take a nap,) that I ignore my intuition. You know that little voice that tells you to pick up the half and half while you’re at the health food store? (Because, sure enough, Sam’s Club will be out of it!) Yeah… that little voice, when you ignore it, because you’re in a hurry, well, it ends up actually costing you more time. And then of course, you’ll also have to sit at every red light while it cycles through twice, and you’ll get in the grocery line behind the person who not only bought the whole store, but will require price checks on several items. Um yes… that was me yesterday.
Also… my nesting instincts seem to have kicked in as well. The house needs to be spotless, including under the couches and hot water heat registers, and while we’re at it, the boys closets need to be modified, and the guest room needs to be turned into the girls room. And I have to frame a bunch of pictures, finish writing in the rest of kids baby books, and sort through the two huge bags of baby girl clothes my sister just brought up. Of course, I don’t really have to do all this, I just feel like I need to. And all the women who have ever nested in the world said amen.
Also… did I mention? I’m doing the books for my husbands company (and he has been slammed this week, a good thing!) and so I’ve been attempting to teach myself how to use Quickbooks this week too. This included uploading an entirely new operating system on my Mac. Yes, it is only four years old, but the operating system is already obsolete (sort of.) Now, I think I’ve gotten to the really fun data entry part, where I get to enter in any and all transactions from the last 7 months. I am, however, looking forward to the time and ease this will afford me once I get it all set up. For the last several months, I’ve been doing the books “by hand” so to speak, and it’s really frustrating when my hubby hands me a receipt he’s found from 3 months ago, and I have to go back and enter it in, AND change all my totals from there on out. Yes… this will be worth it. (I HOPE!)
Sooooo, yeah, that has kind of been my crazy week, and it’s not showing any signs of slowing down. Drew will be starting first grade here on the 19th, and we have two out of town trips planned for two weekends… time is flying by!
HOWEVER, I must say, with all of this, and time disappearing swiftly into the past, why do I still feel like I have forever left in my pregnancy?! November still seems so far away! But there is that little voice in the back of my head, that tells me I will be looking back at this little comment of mine and laughing heartily, because really, November will be here in the blink of an eye, and in two more blinks, I’ll have another 2 year old and wonder where all the time went.
Ha ha! Life is crazy. Life is good. I am blessed.

And if you made it through all that, you have a high tolerance for unorganized, rambling writing, run-on sentences, (things put in parentheses,) bad punctuation, and whatever else I may have failed to mention. 😉